US President Joe Biden said on Friday he would sign legislation that gives China's ByteDance about six months to divest the popular TikTok short video app as his rival Donald Trump raised concerns about a ban of the service used by 170 million Americans, Ednews informs via Reuters.
The US House of Representatives plans to vote on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week on the TikTok crackdown bill after a committee on Thursday unanimously approved the measure. The House will vote on the proposal under rules requiring two-thirds of members to vote "yes" to win approval.
"If they pass it, I'll sign it," Biden, a Democrat, told reporters. The bill faces an uncertain outcome in the Senate, where some lawmakers say they want changes to the legislation.
Republican Trump, who is seeking a return to the White House in the November election, expressed objections to banning TikTok, saying on social media: "If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook ... will double their business," and added he does not want Facebook "doing better."
Trump previously criticized Facebook parent Meta Platforms for revoking his access to Facebook and Instagram after removing two of his posts during the Jan. 6, 2021, US Capitol riot. His accounts were reinstated in February 2023.
The Trump campaign did not immediately comment on whether he has a position on the legislation. Meta Platforms declined to comment.
The Justice Department told the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that a divestiture bill, rather than a bill banning TikTok, would put the government in a stronger legal position, according to a document seen by Reuters.
Mike Pence, who served as vice president under Trump, endorsed the proposed House legislation on TikTok. "China is poisoning the minds of American children. Enough is enough," he wrote on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.
The bill would give ByteDance 165 days to divest TikTok. If it failed to do so, app stores operated by Apple, Alphabet's Google and others could not legally offer TikTok or provide Web hosting services to ByteDance-controlled applications.
In 2020, Trump sought to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat but was blocked by the courts.
